Australia’s Qantas Airways got back into the air Monday, with outraged passengers wondering what that was all about after Alan Joyce, the Qantas CEO, took the unprecedented step Saturday of grounding the entire global fleet of 108 planes. That left 70,000 confused passengers, who weren’t notified in advance, on the ground across the world. Hordes of furious would-be flyers lined up at ticket counters everywhere. It was a startlingly 19th Century show of managerial machismo. Joyce decided to force a dramatic showdown by grounding Qantas at short notice and locking out staff from the next workday – a true horror show for Halloween. The Australian government was certainly horrified enough, ordering an end to the country’s worst labor action in more than a decade before things got worse.
Qantas's Short Hop
Qantas's Short Hop
Qantas's Short Hop
Australia’s Qantas Airways got back into the air Monday, with outraged passengers wondering what that was all about after Alan Joyce, the Qantas CEO, took the unprecedented step Saturday of grounding the entire global fleet of 108 planes. That left 70,000 confused passengers, who weren’t notified in advance, on the ground across the world. Hordes of furious would-be flyers lined up at ticket counters everywhere. It was a startlingly 19th Century show of managerial machismo. Joyce decided to force a dramatic showdown by grounding Qantas at short notice and locking out staff from the next workday – a true horror show for Halloween. The Australian government was certainly horrified enough, ordering an end to the country’s worst labor action in more than a decade before things got worse.